For the Birds

We recently had visits from my mom, and my stepmom. One of our favorite places to take visitors is the Byodi-In Temple, a replica of a 900 yr old temple in Japan.

It's a lovely peaceful place with koi ponds and swans and lots of doves and sparrows. You can buy a little sack of fish food for $1.00, and if you're very still, the birds will fly over and land on your outstretched hand and eat from your palm...

And the swans will glide over and do likewise...

Needless to say, Kevin loves this. If we bought ten sacks of fish food, he'd spend the entire day, and I have to admit, I might as well. It's lovely, a simple joy to feel those soft little feathers brush your hand and to share a moment of trust with another creature who is free to come and go at will.

Not sure why it always amazes me how enjoyable this is. Reminds me of the old Shaker tune...'tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free...

Aloha

Ruler of the Raging Main

Kevin and I had a lovely visit with my stepmother this holiday weekend. After seeing some sights,we came back to the house and sat and chatted for a long time. To my great delight, she had brought along some mementos of my dad as gifts for us. These included a wonderful old bamboo mailing tube that my dad had sent to himself through Navy mail in 1945.

Rolled inside were some of his degrees and certificates, including a beautifully detailed and colorful thing called a Domain of Neptunus Rex.

I'd never heard of this before, but it's a certificate that is awarded when a sailor first crosses the equator. According to his certificate, my dad crossed the equator on the U.S.S. West Point bound for the South West Pacific on February 28, 1944. And according to images of others on the internet, the artwork varied and his particular certificate is extraordinarily colorful and unusual.

The wording is wonderful, too, as if written by Neptune himself, and signed by Davey Jones and Neptunus Rex, Ruler of the Raging Main. Here it is:

I just love this thing! Will have it framed as soon as possible. Very fitting for Memorial Day, too.

And in keeping with the nautical theme, I spent all day Sunday with friends up on the beach at North Shore observing seal R5AY and her pup P02. On the way home, a friend and I decided to stop in and hear another friend's band at a local club. When we got out of the car, we noticed the mural on the side of the building. It showed monk seals on a beach, including a mama and a pup right smack in the middle. We'd never noticed that before. Funny how that works.

It's been a lovely holiday weekend. We are very blessed indeed. For that I offer my sincerest gratitude to all those sailors who crossed the equator, and especially those who never came back.

Aloha pumehana...

Dooley Dooley Doo

Dooley the Lovebird always reminded me of this cartoon from the New Yorker:


Dooley sat in a cage on my neighbor's lanai. The little Hawaiian doves who make the loveliest sound, a sound that is indelibly intertwined with my experience on this island, nestled on the edge of the lanai rail and chatted with Dooley every day; they kept him company. He also had conversations with the dog across the street, and with me.

Every day, I'd wander over and chat with Dooley for a few minutes. I'd kiss-kiss him and he'd try to imitate the sound. I'd sing "Dooley Dooley Doo", and he'd perk up and preen, look me in the eye, and squawk softly in response. A beautiful little guy; soft green with bright blue and cantaloupe colored feathers.

Dooley died a few days ago. My neighbor cried. I cried. The doves still come and land on the lanai rail; they look for him, they cry softly for a bit, and fly off. Such a wee small creature. Who knew how much his presence would be missed?

So here's to Dooley the Lovebird, who was loved.

Dad

James Gilmour Ranck
August 26, 1911 - May 17, 1979

Here's to the starry sky from a Bermuda beach, Daddy.

Agape, Caritas, Eros, Shalom....Aloha

New Pups!

Update 5/16 - The Star-Bulletin has an article this morning on the pups. Here's a photo of the mama/pup I'll be observing:

This is exciting!

There are two new Hawaiian Monk Seal pups on O'ahu!

These creatures are an endangered species indigenous to these islands, and there are only about 1200 left. They are literally on the brink of extinction. So the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service PIFSC is doing what it can to study and facilitate the recovery of this species, as part of its Marine Mammal Research Program. That link above, by the way, has an incredibly cute photo.

In any case, for reasons I'll not go into here, they depend on a network of local volunteers - "seal watchers" - to watch over the seals when they beach themselves to rest, and most importantly, to watch over moms and their new pups, which are precious. Pup survival is essential to the recovery of the species, and the low rate of pup survival is a large part of their decline. So a new pup means 24/7 observation duty and research.

The scientists and volunteers have coordinated a schedule to watch over the two new pups with their moms, which are in separate locations, and I've signed up for four hours a week of observation and data collection for one mama/baby pair for 5-7 weeks.

Here's a photo of the same mama (each seal has an identifier) with a pup from a previous year:

I've spotted two monk seals on O'ahu beaches and participated in the April Semiannual Seal Count, scouring the beaches searching for seals, but I've never done an observation stint before, particularly with a pup, so I'm very excited to be able to help.

Please think positive thoughts for the survival of these pups.

Aloha pumehana...

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms I know, including my own!!
You are all FABulous!!!!

A little Mother's Day humor:

Irony: Yesterday it took three shots of lidocaine to numb my jaw enough to get a cavity filled. This morning Kevin presented me with an entire pound of my single favorite See's candy, #33 the Dark...Chocolate...Truffle. They're almost better than sex, so screw the cavities...ooo hey, that's punny, huh?

Aaaand, here's a little clip I received a couple of years ago that, for some reason I cannot fathom, still makes me laugh out loud.

Beyond The Pale

Okay, now THIS pisses me off!

Hillary Clinton has been quoted in a CNN article as saying this:

Clinton cited an Associated Press poll "that found how Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

WTF?!?! Excuse me?!?! "Working, hard-working Americans, WHITE Americans"?!?!?!?!
Of course, as opposed to those stereotypical slovenly, lazy, non-white Americans?!?!?!
Holy Crap!!!

It's unbelievable that she would stoop to perpetuating such an old, insidious and nasty racist stereotype for any reason.

I find her statement deeply and incredibly offensive, especially from someone who relied on Jeremiah Wright for moral support at the WH during the Lewinsky scandal. What a F-ing hypocrite!!!!

THIS makes me angry!!!!!!!

I'll be doing some Wii boxing tonight, folks....gggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!